9 
-JUNE 27 
442 
MOORE’S RURAL MEW-YORKEB 
PROGRESS AND IMPROVEMENT.’ 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
A NATIONAL ILLUSTRATED 
RURAL, LITERARY ANI) FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
D. ». T. MOORE, 
Fonndtr and Couduotiiiii Kditor. 
FALLACIES OF LIFE INSUKANOE.-XIII. 
Though there iB much apparent and some 
real diversity In the number and amount of 
premiums required, and also In the time of 
maturity of the various policies Issued, the In¬ 
surance laws compel uniformity in respect to 
tli a deposits or reserves, which are computed 
by a prescribed table of mortality and rate of 
interest. Every ten-payment life policy re¬ 
CKAS. D. BRAGDON, ANDREW S. FULLER, 
Aaaooiilte KtlitOrw. 
HENRY S. RANDALL LL, D., Cortland Village, N. Y., 
Knirott or TMK D*r*»TM*NT or Sn««r Hwiinmi. 
X. A. WILLARD, A. M., Little Falls, N. Y„ 
Editob or tur taniiyim or D»inr Hu«»*NDiur. 
G. A. C. HARNETT. Publisher. 
TERMS, IN ADVANCE: 
Subscript ion. Single Copy. 12.50 per Year. To 
Clubs:—Five Copies,and one copy free to Agent or 
Better up of Club, for 112.50 j Seven Copies, and one- 
free, for tlfi; Ten Copies, and one tree. $20—only $2 
por copy- As we urc obliged to pre-pay the American 
pustaKOon papers mailed to foreign countries, Twenty 
Cents should be added to above ratee for each yearly 
copy mailed to Canada, and One Dollar per copy to 
Kuiopo. Drafts, Post-Ofllec Money Orders and Itegls- 
tered Cottars may bo mailed at our rUk. fir Liberal 
Premiums to all Clnb AKCnta who do not take free 
copies. Specimen Numbers. Sbow-HIIis, Ac., sent free, 
ADVERTISING RATES: 
Inside. 14th and 15th panes! Aguto space).60c. per line. 
“ 13th ..„ 
Outside or lust page......... ....i.uu 
Flftv per cent, extra for unusual display. 
Special Notices, leaded, byconnt.C25 w 
Business “ ..JS2 „ 
IloadiuK ........2.UU 
Discount on 4 insertions, 10 per ct.; R Ins.. 15 per ct.; 
13 Ins., 20 per ct.: 20 ins., 25 per ct.: MS Ins.. .MM per ct. 
fy No adverttsoment Inserted for less than *3. 
PUBLICATION OFFICES: 
No. 78 Duane Street, New York City, and No. 67 
East Main St, (Darrow’s Bookstore, Osburn 
House Block,) Rochester, N. Y. 
SATURDAY, JUNE 27, 1874. 
“FINIS" TO VOLUME XXIX. 
A BRIEF GREETING TO ALL OUR READERS. 
quires the same reserve to a penny, I hough one 
company issues St for a premium fifty per cent, 
larger than another. The redundant portion, 
a* before suggested, forms the basis of the real 
dividend or return premium, or the so-called 
Ever since Insurance began to be prad iced in 
this country the better managed companies 
have made large returns of surplus or unneces¬ 
sary premiums ;iml t li-'ii BgQotS, not nlwnyi. 
without the connivance of the companion, have 
misrepresented these returns of surplus as being 
somehow profit* to the premium payer. There 
are few policy holders who have not been al¬ 
ternately attracted and repelled by the prom¬ 
ise and realization of gain from this source. 
Perhaps loss disappointment and dissatisfac¬ 
tion would have been realized if the true sour¬ 
ces of dividends had been plainly described to 
and understood by each policy holder In ad¬ 
vance of Investment, Instead of leaving this 
essential tuition to he acquired at an expense 
of much money and many bitter experiences. 
The law, which Intends only to provide se¬ 
curity, is silent on the subject of dividends, and 
t his matter is left to the discretion of the com¬ 
pany. The losses It must pay, the reserves It 
must provide and hold, but—the dividend, as 
many have painfully realized, it may pay if ii 
can, and may nut , if it chooses, and consequent ¬ 
ly the optional part of its obligations must be 
subordinated to the prescriptive requirements 
of the law which grants the company existence 
and license to do business. 
Twenty years since the distribution of in- 
plus was made upon the basis of a percentage 
of the premium received, and it took a number 
of years to discover that t his “ rule of thumb ” 
was not only Inequitable, but that it was one 
which the company could not violate without 
loss of prestige. A time was approaching when, 
by reason of Increased expense and mortality, 
the pompauy that had all along paid u compre¬ 
hensible dividend of fifty per cent, of the pre¬ 
mium could pay It no longer, and the necessity 
of some concerted change in the method Of de¬ 
termining and distributing surplus became a 
better argument for change than the long-roc- 
ognized injustice of the old plan. 
Under the percentage plan of distribution 
dividends were paid only to those who had 
This Number closes the XXIXth Volume of 
the Rural New-Yorker, and terminates our 
engagements with all whoso subscriptions now 
expire. An examination of the copious Index 
of the principal Departments will show that 
both Editor# and Contributors have been mind¬ 
ful of their duties and obligations by rendering 
faithful service to readers and the public:—For 
an equal amount and variety of valuable, in¬ 
structive and entertaining reading cannot be 
obtained fur the price in any other publication. 
This claim we think will be conceded by every 
intelligent reader of the RURAL during the phrI. 
six months—and also that the volume, when 
died or bound for future reference, will be 
worth far more than its subscription price. 
Indeed, the volumes of tho Rural New-York¬ 
er for the past five years form a complete En- 
cyclopedia of Agriculture, Horticulture, Domes¬ 
tic Economy, Ac,, Ac., and are Invaluable to 
those who consult their pages. 
In regard to our recent labors, wo can consci¬ 
entiously affirm that constant endeavors have 
boen made to render each number —Indeed, 
every page, column and article —of value and 
Interest, so that the whole volume r.hould ex¬ 
hibit a manifestation of advancement and Im¬ 
provement commensurate with the progressive 
spirit of the age and tho wants of the people. 
That our efforts arc appreciated by many we 
have abundant and most gratifying evidence In 
tiie written and oral testimony of Intelligent 
and discriminating subscribers - people who 
have adhered to Moore’s Rural alike In 
“hard" and “flush” times, and who know It 
pays to take such a paper, panic or no panic. 
The approval of such a class is not only highly 
prjzed, but stimulates us to renewed and greater 
efforts to furnish, continuously, the best aNd 
most complete combined Agricultural, Lit¬ 
erary and Family? Newspaper producible in 
America. 
Thus much of the recent past,—and, as our 
greeting must be brief, we can say little in re¬ 
gard to the future. As to Volume XXX—to 
begin next week, July 4— thtnk we can safely 
promise that (P. V.) It will not he Inferior to 
the past, while wo hope to make It decidedly 
superior. With Editors of long and varied ex¬ 
perience, able and talented Contributors and 
Correspondents, and a Publisher who is both 
enterprising and liberal, to say nothing of 
other qualifications, wo predict that the ensu¬ 
ing volume will he worthy of Its predecessors— 
provided always that the Ruhal'8 good friends, 
all over tho land, soeond the earnest and per¬ 
sistent efforts which will be made to augment 
the value of its pages, and extend its circula¬ 
tion and usefulness. 
paid five or six years continuously—that is, a 
dividend was declared after four payments had 
been made, payable only on condition that the 
fifth also be paid. A risk of one t housand dol¬ 
lars for whole life by annual payments or a 
premium of $28.38, which received a dividend 
of fifty per cent., or $18.10, after the fifth pay¬ 
ment had been made, seemed to gain a “ profit " 
of half a premium, bul really got a dividend of 
ten percent, upon each of live premiums. To 
be sure, a like dividend the next year made the 
proportion two fifty per cent, dividends on six 
payments, or 1ft per cent, on each, aud u third 
dividend 21 per cent.; tho fourth, 26; the fifth. 
28; the sixth, 30; and so on. This t he company 
understood, hut the Insured did not, and upon 
this underlying basis of fact was construe led a 
now plan nearly as artificial as the old one, but 
with this merit, that the policy holder could 
not anticipate a particular percentage and be 
disappointed If be did not get It. 
Under what. Is called the “ contribution .sys¬ 
tem” of distributing surplus, each company 
has, or may have, a plan of its own, incompre¬ 
hensible alike to Its patrons, its rivals and the 
public, and amid bo much diversity it is yet 
a debatable question whether a greater in¬ 
equity is perpetuated than under the old plan. 
For instance, a thousand dollar policy of the 
kind just described, brings in a premium of 
$22.70 in cash. Out of this paymont must come 
agent’s commission, say 25 per cent., $5.07 ; ex¬ 
aminer's foes, $2; contribution to losses, $8 (?), 
and reserves, $7.«6-in all $23.33. If this policy 
boro its own expenses, as In equity it should, It 
has no surplus whatever yet—there are any 
number of companies that will pay as much as 
$5 in dividends upon such a policy, though it 
is obvious that such a dividend is wholly gra¬ 
tuitous. 
How the older policies which contribute this 
dividend to reward tho young entrant are to 
be compensated is not very clear, but t hat the 
new plan is as truly “ a rule of thumb ” as tho 
old one is apparent- It is probable that the 
company figures out an apparent surplus by 
averaging the entire expense of the company 
among the policies in proportion to premium 
paid, charging the expenses above detailed to 
the common account and distributing the sur¬ 
plus without reference to the expenses of indi¬ 
vidual policies. If, as appears probable, such 
la the practice of any considerable! number of 
companies, it is difficult to understand how the 
average policy holder iBto be benefited by the 
exchange of a plan he could understand for 
one tie could not, and which has nut even the 
claim to more perfect equity to plead for it. 
After thirty years of observation and practice 
it is higli time that a more perfect system of 
distribution should be adopted, or such an ad¬ 
justment of premium as would obviate tho 
necessity of surplus substituted for the high 
premium now' in use. 
The whole matter has been from the first a 
prolific nidus of misunderstanding and mis¬ 
representation. The policy holder does not, 
cannot, understand it, and (he actuaries them¬ 
selves, who, of u)l men,should bust comprehend 
the underlying principle, have each a peculiar 
plan, and are agreed only in condemning all 
Others. 
-- 
RUSHING CROPS TO MARKET. 
There are certain perishable products that 
must find an immediate market or there is loss 
to the producer; but the great staple crops may 
salely lie held when there is good reason for 
holding and no pressing reason for soiling. It 
is suggested, wn notice, that half of <he early 
crops of grain say winter wheat—lie stored. 
The wisdom of this advice, of course, depend.. 
upon prospective demand upon the old stock 
on hand at. home and abroad, when the now 
crop goes on tho market and upon the amount 
of the new crop a* compared with that of pre¬ 
vious years. The means for determining the 
policy pursued are more complete than ever 
before. The crop reports to the Department of 
Agriculture, by commercial reports to tho pa¬ 
pers, aud the facilities afforded by a more com¬ 
plete organization pf farmers than has been 
before known in this country, facilitate the 
obtaining this Information. 
lint the most vicious suggestion w’e have seen 
is that “ It might, lie a good plan for the wheat 
grower to borrow the money required for im¬ 
mediate ime and warehouse as much as possi¬ 
ble of Ids crop.” This is making the producer 
a speculator on ids own products with a ven¬ 
geance. Of course it might happen that the 
farmer who did this would make money bet- 
ling on the price of Ills grain two to six months' 
hence, and paying 10loft) per cent, for money 
to bet with ; but. again, lie might not make and 
might lose the money margin ho hud put up. 
We regard all advice that, encourages any one 
to run in debt, ©specially when there is no ab¬ 
solute neod of it, vicious. This advice, when 
given to farmers for speculative purposes, in¬ 
volving as a basis of action a thorough knowl¬ 
edge of commercial wantnnnd values, isdoubly 
bad. If a farmer is able to hold his grsin for 
better prices without running in debt, it is a 
different matter; oven then he must take a 
risk ; but be does not go In debt to take It, aud 
that Is the main tiling we denounce—running 
In debt. i _ 
REPORT OF AMERICAN POMOLOGICAL 
SOCIETY FOR 1873. 
We have received this volume, and it Is a 
most admirable and carefully-prepared report, 
so far as wo have had time to examine it. It 
contains nearly 200 pages, 88 pages of which are 
devoted to the proceedings, In detail, of tho 
meeting at Boston last September, including a 
very full report of the discussions. There are 
154 pages devoted to reports of Btate Fruit Com¬ 
mittees. Twenty-four Plates, and Nova Scotia 
and Ontario are represented In those reports, 
which are generally full and detailed. There 
are six carefully prepared essays presented to 
the Society, some or which have already been 
published in the agricultural and horticultural 
papers. They are all worthy a place in the 
Transactions of the Society. The Society's 
Catalogue of Fruits now occupies 3!* pages lias 
been carefully revised and greatly extended. 
There lias been a great deal of work expended 
upon this volume, and credit should bo awarded 
to H.T. Williams, Secretary pro fern, for the 
manner in whien lie has discharged the duties 
suddenly thrust upon him. But it must not bo 
forgotten that Its completeness and correctness 
is largely due to tho work of Messrs. Wilder, 
Barry aud Downing, through whose hands 
the proofs have passed, and whose zeal aud 
conscientiousness in the selection and prepa¬ 
ration of the material, in co-operation with tho 
Secretary' pro tern, Is appareut. 
--♦♦♦- 
RURAL NOTES AND QUERIES. 
Strong Appreciation of the Rural.—'What 
people say about the Rural, oow-a-days. Is 
very kind, complimentary and encouraging, 
Indicating that our promise to make It hotter 
than ever ibis year Is being fulfilled. Among 
many appreciative letters, is one from a farmer 
in Bath, N. Y., which says:—'“1,too,am among 
the myriad who t ake your valuable and indis¬ 
pensable paper, as I have for some time, and 
the longer I take It the more I like it. In fact 
it kas become such a warm and t rue fi lend— 
always giving good advice to rich and poor 
alike, regardless of praise or censure—that 
henceforth 1 will be unable to do without the 
Rural. Iudeed, I regard it as the best paper I 
have ever taken, and every one who likes a 
good paper should subscribe for the RURAL. I 
think every right-minded farmer who rakes it 
six months will continue the Rural as long as 
he can pay for It. For myself, I would nut take 
ten times what the paper coBts me for the 
knowledge already derived from its pages. Any 
farmer would save dollars by taking It where 
it would cost him cents. Now, I like to save 
money as well perhaps as most people do, but I 
consider that I have received more than treble 
compound interest on what it has cost me 
since 1 have taken the Rural New-Yorker." 
— And yet a good many folk—not to say 
farmers who spend from ten to thirty dollars 
a year for narcotics and stimulants (vulgarly 
called tobacco and whisky) cannot afford to 
take such a paper as our friend mentions, on 
account of the “ hard times 1”—which seemeth 
unto us like “strainingat a gnat and swallow¬ 
ing a camel.” 
“ Moore's Rural Not Dead Nor Sleeping.”— 
So said an article published in December last, 
und it was added that “ the Rural New-York¬ 
er has not ‘ failed ’ and cannot, fall,” notwith¬ 
standing the temporary embarrassment of its 
Founder and Editor in consequence of outside 
investments and aiding friends. We then 
promised that the paper would not only “still 
live,” but advance rather than recede, and its 
issues for the past six months fully verify the 
promise. Agents and subfcrlbers have second¬ 
ed our efforts most noblv, and those, if any, 
who feared tho suspension of the Rural, have 
found they were greatly out In their reckon¬ 
ing—for the paper is not only much stronger, 
but daily growing in popularity and reputation. 
Thanks to good friends— Agents, Subscribers, 
Advertisers. &c., for the progressive and pros¬ 
perous condition of the pioneer Rural, Lit¬ 
erary and Family Weekly ! 
-» 4 -»- 
The Title l'nge ami Index, published here¬ 
with, occupy so much space as to preclude us 
from giving the usual quantity and variety of 
Reading Matter, Illustrations, &c„ but will 
prove invaluable to those who preserve tho 
Rural (as w« trust most subscribers do) for 
future reference. The Index of the leading 
departments is so complete that almost every 
article desired ©an be readily found by consult¬ 
ing it;; narrow but instructive columns. More¬ 
over, it sliows at. a glauee what a vast amount 
of instructive and useful Information (in addi¬ 
tion to Literary, Miscellaneous and ot her read¬ 
ing) can be glven*l» a semi-annual volume of 
tho Rural- more, really, than is published in 
a whole year by many of our contemporaries. 
The Index to Advertisements, also quite full, is 
a feature Introduced by the RuuALfor the ben¬ 
efit of both advertisers and their customers- 
and must, prove a permanent advantage and 
convenience to those who save the paper. 
-- 
Effect of HcnrcUy id' Agricultural Labor in 
England. — Tho English Agricultural Gazette 
has this significant paragraph “ A stray re¬ 
mark from an old, and in his own neighbor¬ 
hood, distinguished agriculturist, strikes us ns 
worth recording. We were, within the week, 
watching the sale by auction, Ip public market, 
of some very middling lambs. The first pen 
were wethers, and these were Bold at 20s. 
apiece; a pen of ewe lambs followed, which 
realized 2fts. per head, although no larger than 
those first sold. * Everything female sells high 
at present,’ said the agriculturist in question, 
‘because,' he added, ‘ people are getting tljelr 
land laid away to grass for tho purpose of breed¬ 
ing stock.’ This observation becomes signifi¬ 
cant when taken In connection with tiie pres¬ 
ent-state of the labor market. Many farmers 
are exhibiting a strange indifference as to 
whether they continue in business or not; and 
the above observation indicates one direction 
In which the great labor question will solve 
Itself. It is an illustration of tiie self-protec¬ 
tive power of capital, which if persecuted in 
one city will take its departure to another." 
-»♦*- 
A Fine Grange 47hrmm».—Tuo American Oleo¬ 
graph Co. of Milwaukee, Wis., have sent us a 
beautiful chrorao, entitled " Grange Of Patrons 
of 11 ttsbaudry." The center show’s a Grunge in 
session, with officers proporly located, In rega^ 
lla, etc. The side borders represent various 
rural and farm scenes, which are both artistic 
and truthful to nature. The chromo is admira¬ 
bly adapted for Grange halls or rooms, as well 
as for the homes of members. 
The HritWIi Grain Markets for the week end¬ 
ing June 4.showed dullness and a slight reduc¬ 
tion of prices, growing out of the Improved 
weather and appearance of the growing crops 
rather than from any surplus supply. The 
stocks on hand continue low, and it is gener¬ 
ally believed that current supplies will be ab¬ 
sorbed by current demand, and that there can¬ 
nul, lie any material reduction of prices before 
harvest, 
T’lmt Large Package of Flower feeeds from 
one James Vick of Rochester, N. Y.,—about 
whom and whose superlative doings as a Seeds¬ 
man and Florist everybody has heard,—caused 
some excitement and much anticipation in the 
family. All convalescing, however, and lively 
times in the tlower garden. 
H I — 
Fine Apple#—The specimens of Tompkins 
Co. King, left at Rural Office, last w'eek, by 
our good friend Owens (A. G.) of Big Flats, 
Chemung County, N. Y. 
-- 
RURAL BREVITIES. 
The 9tb Duchess of Oneida, of the New York 
Mills herd, purchased by A. J. Alexander of 
Kentucky for $10,000, died a few days since of 
pneumonia. 
All farmers who expect to gather hay this 
season would do well to send for a circular of 
The Wibnbr Sulky Rake, which is an excel¬ 
lent implement and has been greatly improved 
t his season by its manufacturers. Their cir¬ 
cular contains a full explanation of It. 
John W. I.ownkhury evidently don’t know 
that it costs from *10 lo $50(1 to obtain correct 
analysis of wires. If ho had, lie would not have 
made of us the request he has. Our functions 
as edit ors do not extend to the procuring and 
paving for analysis of ores for our readers, 
however glad we may be to do all in our power 
to serve them. 
